If you want to know about the consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), read this.
The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) is located within Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). The purpose of the ACL is to (amongst other things) protect consumers, through guarantees of fair-trading and consumer protection. A breach of the ACL’s consumer guarantees are subject to statutory remedies, as well as contractual (if any).
Section 3 of the ACL defines a consumer as a person or a business who acquires goods or services, where:
the costs of the goods do not exceed $40,000 (now increased $100,000); or
the goods were of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use or consumption; and
the goods are a commercial road vehicle or trailer used primarily to transport goods on public roads.
The threshold was recently increased from $40,000 to $100,000 through the Treasury Laws Amendment (Acquisition as Consumer—Financial Thresholds) Regulations 2020. The online version of the ACL Law has not yet been updated.
The ACL contains a number of consumer guarantees that are implied into consumer contracts for supply of goods and services. The consumer guarantees are contained within sections 51 to 62 of the ACL. For the consumer guarantee provisions to be triggered, the supply of goods and services must occur in trade or commerce. The provisions do not apply to purely private or domestic sales.
The consumer guarantees do not have to be explicitly mentioned or visible in consumer contracts. Importantly, as per section 64 of the ACL, parties cannot contract out of the consumer guarantees. If a term of a contract attempts to exclude the consumer guarantees, that term will be void to the extent that it offends section 64 of the ACL.
For supply of goods, some of the guarantees are:
There is a guarantee that the goods bought are of acceptable quality.
There is a guarantee that the goods bought are reasonably fit for purpose and for the purposes disclosed by the supplier.
There is a guarantee that the goods correspond with their description.
There is a guarantee that the manufacturer of the goods will take reasonable action to repair the goods or supply the parts required to repair the goods.
There is a guarantee that the supplier of the goods will comply with any express warranties provided for the goods.
For supply of services, some of the guarantees are:
There is a guarantee that the services will be rendered with due care and skill.
There is a guarantee that the services and any product resulting from the services, will be reasonably fir for that purpose.
There is a guarantee that the services will be supplied within a reasonable time.
If you have purchased goods or services and you fit the definition of a consumer as per section 3 of the ACL (i.e. goods and services cost less than $100,000), you may be protected by the consumer guarantees provided under the ACL. Remember that the consumer guarantees protect both individuals and businesses.
Please feel free to contact us to discuss further.
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